среда, 3 июня 2015 г.
uJune Recall Roundup: Melting Mason Jars And Phantom Ovensr
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In this month’s Recall Roundup for consumer goods, a laptop battery recall expands, mason jar night lights melt, and a friendly toy policeman is not as friendly as he initially appears to be.
Babies & Kids
OXO Nest Booster Seats – straps may loosen, which would allow a child to fall out. There have been five reports of loose straps, but no injuries.
IKEA PATRULL KLÄMMA and PATRULL SMIDIG Pressure-Mounted Safety Gates – Gates may not stay in place. There have been eighteen gates out of place worldwide, and three children injured.
Baby’s Dream cribs and other baby furniture – Violates lead paint standard.
IKEA Crib Mattresses – Existing recall expanded; mattresses pose an entrapment hazard.
Roberta Roller Rabbit Children’s Pajama Sets – Do not meet flammability standard.
Goochie Goo Garbs Children’s Sensory Grab Garb Blankets – A wire used in the blanket’s ribbon may become exposed and scratch a child.Toys
Police Press and Go Toy Vehicles – Policeman figurine’s hat can pop off and poses a choking hazard. There has been one report of a detached hat.
H-E-Buddy Kaleidoscopes (H-E-B) – End pieces may pop off and pose choking hazard. No incidents reported.Tools
Earthwise Cordless Electric Lawn Mowers – Mower may start when the ignition key isn’t in the “start” position, which is very dangerous.
Whistler Jump&Go Portable Jumpstart and Power Supply – Fire hazard. There have been 45 overheating units reported, and 18 fires.Furniture
Cost Plus World Market Twist Swivel Stools – The spot where the seat is welded to the center pole may break, causing a seated person to fall off. There have been 12 reports of broken stools, but no injuries.
Franklin Power Reclining Furniture – Switch used to control the furniture may overheat and cause a fire. The company has reported two switches catching fire and three smoking in furniture showrooms.
La-Z-Boy Recliners – May tip forward instead of reclining.Clothing
Gena Accessories Silk Scarves – Do not meet flammability standard.Electronics
Lenovo ThinkPad Notebook Computer Battery Packs – Expanded recall. May overheat or catch fire. Four incidents reported; one user was burned.Appliances
John Wood oil-fired water heaters – risk of fire
Viking Gas Ranges – Oven may turn itself on. There have been 75 reports of this happening, including three reports of burns and four fires causing property damage.
Kenmore Elite Gas Ranges (Sears) – Burner may go out while gas is still on, which can lead to a fire or explosion. No incidents reported.
Kenmore Elite Slide-In Ranges (Sears) – Stainless steel edge below the control panel poses a laceration hazard. One user required stitches after cutting herself on this sharp edge.
Premium (brand) four-cup espresso makers – Water reservoir cap may fail, causing steam burns or the cap popping off unexpectedly. One user was burned while using the appliance.
Shark Powered Rotator Lift-Away vacuum cleaners – Electrified wand may become detached from the rest of the vacuum, which could give the user electric shock. 62 incidents reported, but no injuries.
Sweet Heat Hair Dryers – Dryers don’t have an immersion protection device, and could electrocute the user if dropped in water.
Decor
Mason Jar Night Lights (Christmas Tree Shops) – plastic around the light’s base may melt, posing a fire hazard. Two lights have melted, but no fires reported.Vehicles
Youth Model Can-Am All-Terrain Vehicles – do not meet speed or parking brake regulations for ATVs, depending on model year.
Pedego Electric Bicycle Batteries – May overheat and catch fire. There have been six fires reported, but no injuries.Sports & Outdoors
ORTOVOX Avalanche Transceiver – May not actually send an emergency signal, even if it appears to be on and working normally. Fortunately, no one discovered this during an actual avalanche.
GT Fury Mountain Bicycles – Front wheel hub may break, causing brakes to fail. There have been two reports of broken hubs, but no injuries.
Gerber Cohort Folding Knife – locking mechanism may not work, and knife may open. Six people have reported lacerations when this happened, and two required stitches.
Rocky (brand) Rubber Hunting Boots – Snake guard may not protect against snake bites. A contractor for the company was bitten by a snake while demonstrating the product.
TenPoint and Wicked Ridge Crossbows – May fire even with the safety engaged, which is dangerous. There have been 19 reports of arrows fired with the safety on.
Trek Bicycles with Quick-Release Lever – Lever may malfunction; three people were injured, one of whom is now paralyzed.
Snow Peak Japanese Axe – Handle may shatter. There have been three reports of this happening, but no injuries.
Felt Cruiser bicycles – Brakes may fail. There have been 26 reports, but no injuries.
Hyland Bicycles and Aluminum Fenders – May break during use. One user reported a spine injury resulting in nerve damage after a fender failed.
Kitchen
Urban Outfitters “cheeky” teacups – Cups are labeled as microwave-safe, but have metal accents. There has been one report of a sparking teacup in the microwave. Here is a dramatic re-enactment (which contains swear words) of what that might look like.
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вторник, 2 июня 2015 г.
uAlibaba Will Expedite Counterfeit Takedowns For Some Name Brandsr
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In the months since Chinese e-commerce behemoth Alibaba began trading shares in its Cayman Islands-based holding corporation on the New York Stock Exchange, entities ranging from the Chinese government to the owner of Gucci have accused the company of knowingly profiting from counterfeit branded goods. Alibaba has promised to improve its capacity to ferret out fakes, and now says that it will take down some brands’ items more quickly.
The company’s Taobao marketplace is comparable to eBay: any Chinese resident can sign up and start selling. If the thing they want to sell is, say, fake Gucci purses, it’s not up to Alibaba to authenticate those purses. A representative of Gucci or another anti-counterfeiting vigilante would have to flag the listing, and it would take five to seven business days for the listing to be taken down.
The company’s new program expedites takedown notices from companies that usually correctly flag counterfeit items. It’s still not instantaneous: a listing comes down in one to three business days.
Alibaba Revamps Fake-Goods Procedures [Wall Street Journal]
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uSenate Passes USA Freedom Act, Ushering In A Kindler, Gentler Era Of NSA Snoopingr
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As expected following the June 1 expiration of one of the PATRIOT Act’s most controversial privacy-invading provisions, the Senate today passed a substitute bill, the USA FREEDOM Act (or rather, deep breath… the Uniting and Strengthening America by Fulfilling Rights and Ensuring Effective Discipline Over Monitoring Act of 2015) that prohibits the sort of mass data collection the National Security Agency enjoyed under the recently sunset Patriot provisions, but still leaves in place many concerns for privacy advocates.
After voting to get over the filibuster hump on Sunday afternoon, the Senate today considered a trio of amendments today by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who had been a staunch advocate for approving a straightforward extension of the provisions rather than passing this new law.
One amendment would have doubled the FREEDOM Act’s transition period, during which telephone companies are to build out systems that will let the NSA make warranted searches of specific individuals, from six months to a year. McConnell said this would “ensure that there is adequate time… to build and test a system that doesn’t yet exist.”
The second McConnell amendment would have required the director of national intelligence certify that these new systems will suffice. Finally, McConnell wanted to require the telecoms to notify the government of any changes to their data-retention policies.
All three of the amendments fell short of approval by the Senate.
In the end, when the unamended bill went up for a vote, it passed with a large majority, 67-32. All signs point to the FREEDOM Act being signed by President Obama.
Assuming the bill is enacted as is, it will mark the most significant restriction on NSA surveillance in decades.
Even so, we’re celebrating. We’re celebrating because, however small, this bill marks a day that some said could never happen—a day when the NSA saw its surveillance power reduced by Congress. And we’re hoping that this could be a turning point in the fight to rein in the NSA.
But for privacy advocates, there is still much to be done in terms of limiting the government’s ability to pry into the private lives of Americans.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation points to a number of troublesome ways in which our online communications are still vulnerable.
For example, there’s Sec. 702 of the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, which allows the bulk communications of Internet communications if at least one end of that communication is outside the U.S.
The loophole there, according to former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, is that the NSA can use Sec. 702 surveillance to snoop on e-mail communications in the U.S. if that e-mail leaves the country at any point in its journey to the recipient.
“Even if you’re sending to someone within the United States, your wholly domestic communication between you and your wife can go from New York to London and back and get caught up in the database,” he explained recently to John Oliver.
Sec. 702 is scheduled to sunset in 2017 and the EFF and others will undoubtedly campaign to ask Congress to let it expire.
Then there’s Executive Order 123333, which isn’t just a horrible e-mail password, but a 1984 executive order signed by President Reagan, authorizing the intelligence community to expand its data collection operations.
The NSA relies on E.O. 12333 to justify most of its digital surveillance, including its efforts to secretly collect e-mail data from servers at Google and others. The order has been the subject of calls from privacy advocates for more transparency and for reform to limit its application.
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uCustomer Finds Black Widow Spider In Grapes Bought At Targetr
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It seems like it was just last week that we last heard about a grocery customer bringing home a poisonous black widow spider on a bunch of grapes…because it was. Last week, a woman in Vermont was hospitalized after a poisonous black widow spider hiding in the grapes bit her. This weekend, a man in Illinois found one in the grapes that he purchased at Target, and headed right back to the store to return the fruit. And the spider.
The man recognized the spider’s markings while unpacking his groceries at home, and immediately brought it back to the store. “I’m just happy I didn’t get bit,” he told the radio station. “If I would have gotten bit or if any of my kids had gotten bit, that would have been a whole different story.” That’s exactly what happened in Vermont last week, but the woman who was bitten was hospitalized and expected to make a full recovery.
We don’t know what ultimately happened to the spider, but that Target store told radio station WBBM that they disposed of that batch of grapes and notified their supplier about the problem.
Black widow spiders like to build webs in vineyards, where they snack on insects and are generally helpful. They don’t want to end up in a colander in a suburban home, and will only bite if disturbed. It’s a good idea to check your fruit before eating it, especially red grapes, which provide spiders with more cover. Remove grapes from the package before washing. Look for any insects. Don’t reach into the middle of the bag.
Bites generally aren’t fatal, but they are painful and you should seek medical attention. However, a spider is most likely to bite without using venom at all.
Grocery Customer To Target: There’s A Spider In My Grapes! [WBBM]
4 misconceptions about the black widow spider [CBS News]PREVIOUSLY IN SPIDER GRAPE NEWS:
Woman Hospitalized After Bite From Black Widow Spider Hiding In Grapes From The Supermarket
Great, Now We Have To Worry About Black Widow Spiders Hiding In Grapes
Whole Foods Organic Grapes: Now With Free Black Widow Spiders
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uForcing McDonald’s Workers To Accept Wages On Debit Cards Not Okay In PA, Says Judger
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Two years ago, a Pennsylvania woman sued her former employers at McDonald’s because they forced her and other workers to accept their wages on fee-laden prepaid debit cards. Though the fast food franchisee, who runs 16 McDonald’s, later changed this policy, the lawsuit continued to move forward, and last week a judge ruled against the franchisee’s claims that the debit card requirement was completely legal.
See, Section 3 of the Pennsylvania Wage Payment and Collection Law [PDF] currently states that not only are employees to be paid their wages on a regular basis, but that “The wages shall be paid in lawful money of the United States or check.”
The 2013 complaint [PDF] alleges that the McDonald’s franchisee violated this law by requiring that employees accept the Chase debit card, which charged fees like a $1.50 for using an ATM, $5 for over-the-counter cash withdrawals, $1 per balance inquiry, and $.75 for online bill payment.
At the same time, managers at these McDonald’s were being paid through direct deposit, meaning they were not stuck with any of these fees.
The court granted the lawsuit class action status in mid-May and now represents nearly 2,400 current and former McDonald’s workers in the state.
The franchisee sought a summary judgement from the court, claiming the lawsuit should be dismissed because the Chase Payroll cards were the “functional equivalent” of a paycheck.
But last Friday the judge ruled against that motion, saying that the cards are neither cash nor check.
At the same time, he acknowledged that “reasonable minds can differ, particularly where considerations of advancing technology and consumer convenience, as well as the competing consideration of consumer protection are all involved,” and so gave the franchisee the option to file an immediate appeal.
In his order, the judge notes that this is an in-development issue in this country, with around half of the states allowing wage payments on debit cards and at least one under-consideration Pennsylvania law that could clarify if and when they could be legally used in the state.
But even if every state eventually allows employers to use prepaid debit cards for workers’ wages, Federal Reserve Regulation E states that “No financial institution or other person may require a consumer to establish an account for receipt of electronic fund transfers with a particular institution as a condition of employment or receipt of a government benefit,” which the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has clarified to mean:
“An employer… may not require its employees to receive their salary by direct deposit to any particular institution. An employer may require direct deposit of salary by electronic means if employees are allowed to choose the institution that will receive the direct deposit. Alternatively, an employer may give employees the choice of having their salary deposited at a particular institution (designated by the employer) or receiving their salary by another means, such as by check or cash.”
Luzerne County judge: Payroll cards not legal tender in Pennsylvania (TimesLeader.com)
Judge: McDonalds franchise owners violated state law with debit cards (TheTimes-Tribune.com)
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uAmazon Introduces Free Shipping On Some Small Items For All Customersr
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While we’ve gotten used to Amazon rolling out new features for its customers, often local delivery or free shipping is only extended to Prime subscribers who pay a yearly fee for such things. But Amazon says everyone can get free shipping on some small items, Prime member or no — with no minimum order required.
Thousands of products like makeup, mobile phone accessories, cords, earplugs and the like will ship for free from Amazon’s Web store, reports Bloomberg.
To be included in the new program, dubbed “Fulfillment by Amazon Small and Light,” items must weigh eight ounces or less and will usually cost no more than $10.
Just because it’s free delivery doesn’t mean it’ll be that fast, however, with orders taking about four to eight businesses days to ship from an Amazon hub in Kentucky stocked especially for the new program.
Amazon has been testing the plan for the last 13 weeks, introducing it yesterday after the company saw items targeted for free shipping without a minimum order threshhold selling more quickly than before.
“Customers love that even if it’s a $5 item, shipping is free for everybody, Prime member or not,” a senior manager at Amazon told Bloomberg. “Customers love it and sellers love it.”
Amazon Debuts Free Shipping on Small Goods Without Minimum Order [Bloomberg]
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